It was Always You
by SlytherinsAllTheWayDown
Summary: Cato and Clove have bonded through their training as careers. But when an unexpected circumstance arises, their friendship and planed future is on the line.
1. chapter 1

I do not own any of the characters, places, or plots from The Hunger Games series.

 **Chapter 1: _Where It All Began_**

I remember the winter snow crunching beneath my dad's heavy work boots. He held my small hand in his large calloused one as he walked me to my first day of school. I remember him shuffling through the spring rain, his hand holding mine loser than usual. I remember him struggling down the stairs into hot summer heat to watch me take off by myself. I remember standing at my bedroom window watching the autumn leaves fall onto his grave. A year was all it took for my world to be turned completely upside down.

My poor mother would bring a wilted flower to dad's grave for as long as she could before the illness that took him threatened to take her as well. So for this reason, in my second year of school, I signed myself up to train as a District 2 career for The Hunger Games. As a career in training, I received enough food to make three hearty meals a day for me and my mother. I was also paid a little money with which I bought medicine and medical help for mom.

I was required to train for two hours before school and four hours each night. There were many other kids in The Center who didn't seem to have a reason to be there other than they wanted to win the Games. There were a few like me who were trying to survive the best we knew how. One of the kids that really stood out to me was a scrawny blondie named Cato. He might've been small but what he lacked in size he made up for in determination and heart. He trained harder than any of the other boys who were twice his age and twice his size. I was often paired with him in dueling exercises. I would always win but it got harder and harder to beat him the further along we got in our training.

Around our fifth school year, we started talking outside of training. I learned that he lived in the rougher part of the District that everyone called the Shadows. I met his three younger sisters who all looked just like their beautiful auburn haired mother. Cato's father worked in the Nut so he didn't see the family much.

Cato was really fun once he got out of The Center. It was like a heavy weight was lifted off his back as soon as he walked out the doors. We would race around the district, ignoring the angry shouts of store owners and merchants. We would search for new hiding spots to squeeze into while we hid from the bigger careers. We had about as much fun anyone can have in such a dark and miserable district like District 2. Sure we were one of the more well off districts of Panem, but that didn't mean we were happy. I preferred freedom over wealth but that was something I could only dream of.

Dating in District 2 was just going over to each other's houses for dinner until you were of age to marry. Cato and I did it differently. When I turned thirteen he gave me a copper ring and took me for a picnic by the Nut. There was a small pond hidden behind large weeping willows where we sat and talked for hours about our plans for the future. We were assuming of course that we would both make it out of The Hunger Games as victors. Cato wanted to buy his family a better house outside of the Shadows. I wanted to be able to get the best medical care possible for my mom who was slipping away despite the hard work of the doctor. We sat at the pond late into the night, past the District curfew. We carefully made our way back to my house, trying not to run into any peacekeepers. Cato walked me up the creaky porch stairs leading to my front door.

"Thanks for the picnic Cato. I had fun. I guess I'll see you..."

I was interrupted as Cato planted a small kiss on my cheek and ran off into the night. I stood staring at the place where he had just been before I came to my senses and went inside to my small bedroom. That night I dreamt of life after Cato and I became victors.


	2. Where Our Lives Changed

**Chapter 2 _\- Where Our Lives Changed_**

The next day we were brought back to reality. It was choosing day. Choosing day was the day our trainers paired us up into teams to volunteer for whatever Games they decided to assign us to. They did this every three years for the careers twelve and older. Cato was fourteen and I was turning fourteen myself in a few weeks.

When we arrived at The Center, there was a melancholy attitude as we all accepted our fates as tributes. There was hardly any talking but most of us split into pairs to warm up before the lead trainer, Marcus, came to announce the career partners. He finally arrived and there was an instant silence as we all lined up in formation to await our assignments.

"Good morning tributes." Marcus began. "You all know what today is so why don't we just get to the good stuff."

Marcus went down the list and ordered the paired tributes to stand to the side to await the news of which Games they were going to. I didn't really pay much attention to the other kids, I was just waiting for my name and for Cato's.

Marcus was almost to the end of the list and I was starting to worry that he had forgotten one of us. I heard Cato's name and started to relax, until I heard my name follow his. I saw Cato's jaw flex as the news sunk in. Cato and I would be competing against each other in the Games.

I tried hard to keep my emotions in check as I crossed the room with Cato. He grabbed my hand with a death grip. I looked up at him and noticed how pale he'd gotten. He wasn't taking the news any better than I was.

As I stood in line to wait for our assignment, reality hit hard. Cato and I wouldn't have a future together. One of us if not both were going to die in the arena. One of us were going to have to give up our dreams here in the District. We might even have to kill the other.

I tried to focus on what Games the others were being assigned but I kept looking at Cato's pale face and our hands gripping one another. When we finally got to the front of the line, Marcus gave us a slip of paper that had our new training schedules.

"Cato and Clove you have been assigned with the 74th Hunger Games. That's three years away. The two of you have shown extraordinary determination and I believe you'll both be ready when the time comes. Any questions?" Marcus asked. We both shook our heads. "Good. I'll see you both bright and early tomorrow morning."

Cato and I walked out of the Center. We didn't race to the bakery or hide in our favorite spot behind the barber shop. We walked on silently, still clinging to each other. When we got to Cato's house, he pulled me to a stop in front of the door.

"Don't tell mom yet. She'll go ballistic if she finds out we've been assigned together. And I don't want to talk about it quite yet anyway." I nodded, not trusting my voice because of the lump that was forming in my throat. He must've noticed me trying not to cry because he pulled me close and walked me into the house.

Cato and I avoided as many questions as we could by keeping the girls and his mom occupied on other things. I braided the girls hair and then they tried to braid mine. Cato helped his mom in the kitchen which was a sight. He had grown up a lot from when we first started training and he was larger and much more muscular. He kept hitting his head on pots and kettles hanging from the low ceiling. He had burned his hand multiple times before he decided to come sit with me and watch the girls. The youngest one, Lily, sat in his lap and started to tell him about her first day at school.

"There were so many people! And my teacher gave me a red star because I drew the best picture of the Nut. And Ginger Levinson said I was a show off and Camion, you remember him right Cato? Well he offered to hold her down if I wanted to punch her but I told him that punching for no good reason was a bad thing to do. Isn't that right Clove?"

"I suppose that's right." I was struggling to hold back a smile while I listened to the problems of the six year old.

"Clove," started Mindy, the oldest. " We talked about marriage laws of District 2 today in class. Are you and Cato going to get married when you turn eighteen?"

I couldn't tell her that Cato and I had no possible future together. I just couldn't. I looked at Cato for help.

"Maybe one day Mindy, but not too soon." I could tell he was struggling to come up with the answer.

"Well why not when you turn eighteen?" Asked The middle child Rose.

"It's complicated Rose."

"Older people make everything complicated." Mindy went back to braiding my hair. If only she knew just how complicated it was. After my hair was pulled back into a tangled mess that the girls called a braid, I told Cato that I needed to head home for supper, but I really just wanted to talk. He took the hint and offered to walk me home. On the way out his mom asked me what Games I was assigned to.

"It's supposed to be confidential. Sorry." I lied and gave her a hug.

After we were a safe distance from the house, I sat down on the cold ground and stared into the distance. Cato sat next to me and pulled me to him.

"What are we going to do Cato?"

He looked around as if searching for the answer. "I don't know Clove. I wish I did. One of us could drop out."

You know what happens to the people that drop out." I said. "They end up dead by some accident or another."

"We'll figure it out Clove. Look we have three years okay? We're gonna be fine. We'll win, together or not at all." He kissed the top of my head and helped me stand. We walked to my house in silence. When we arrived I saw a light in the kitchen window and knew my mom was awaiting the news of my assignment.

"I'll see you tomorrow, bright and early." I gave Cato a peck on the cheek and went inside. I closed the door and leaned back on it to gather my composure before I had to talk to my mom. I turned around and saw that I was to late. My mother was sitting down on the small sofa with a worried expression on her tired face.

"What happened Clove?"

I couldn't help myself. I broke down into sobs and put my head in my moms lap. She stroked my hair as I told her everything that happened. I told her about me and Cato and our dreams and our plans. I showed her the little copper ring and told her about our date. By the time I was finished, I had no more tears to cry. I just sat on the hard floor while mom petted me. Finally she stood up and went into the kitchen. "Soups on if you're hungry." I smiled at her attempt to make me feel better. Mom rarely had the words to comfort but she did have food, and that's the next best thing.

We ate in silence and cleaned the kitchen quickly before going to bed. I braided my hair and changed into a nightgown. It took hours for me to finally drift off into a restless sleep.


	3. Where I Learned How To Kill

Chapter 3- Where I Learned How To Kill

Before the asignments, training was basic conditioning. We mostly ran and lifted wieghts and learned to climb and swim. But once we had our assigned year, training turned into weapons class.

So for the next few weeks, Marcus had me trying every weapon from a javelin to a blow gun. Nothing really stuck. That is, until the knives.

We were running out of options and Marcus and Cato were desperate. "You can run fifteen miles and swim across a lake but you cant shoot a bow! " Marcus exclaimed.

"Maybe that's it." I could see the wheels in Cato's head turning as he spoke. "Maybe the problem with the weapons she's been trying are to bulky or long or akward to run with. Maybe she needs something kind of pocket size. "

Marcus looked at him thpughtfully. "Alright, let's see what I got."

We walked to the back of the center to a rack. This rack was stocked with different kinds of knives. Knives as long as my arm and as small as my pinky finger. Some had jagged ridges, some were smooth and slender, others were curved with nasty hooks.

"Okay Clove, here's what I want you to do". Marcus flipped some switches and the corner of the center came to life with targets shaped like people. "Pick a few knives and put them in this belt. Okay great now put on the belt... Alright now this is what's going to happen. I'm going to flip this switch to level one out of five. And when I do that thosw targets are going to turn green and move around. When a target turns green, you throw a knife at one of the three circles which represent where a fatal hit would be. If the target turns red, you got 'em. If the target turns blue, it got you. Got it? Let's give it a whirl! "

So I gave it a whirl. And I nailed it. Marcus moved me all the way to level five and hitting nearly every target fataly. Not one turned blue.

When I completed level five I turned around to see all the tributes in training staring (some glaring) at me. And then i heard someone start to clap. It was Cato, grinning from ear to ear, absolutley beaming at me. And in that moment, I didn't think about the 74th Hunger Games. I just thought about Cato.

After training that night Cato and I went to the bakery to celebrate my accomplishment. Cato went all out and splurged on a toasted tomato, basil, and cheese loaf. Talk about delicious!

"Congrats my dear! One year after learning your assignment you finally find your weapon! Here's to learning how to survive, Clove. "

"Yup. And here's to learning how to kill. "

Cato didn't know how to respond to that, and maybe I shouldn't have said it, but what's the point in denying an inevitable truth?

So we sat and ate our bread and reflected on what we were really training for


End file.
